Suge Knight says an unusual private tribute followed 2Pac’s 1996 death, claiming the rapper’s friends smoked part of his cremated remains after Afeni Shakur pushed for an immediate cremation.
Marion “Suge” Knight made the claim in a 2025 prison interview with PEOPLE, recounting what he said happened in the hours after Tupac Shakur died in Las Vegas. According to the former Death Row Records chief, Afeni Shakur wanted her son cremated right away, despite Knight saying Tupac had previously described a different vision for his funeral.
Knight said a bag containing some of Tupac’s ashes was later passed among people close to the rapper. He claimed, “His homies rolled him up. They smoked him,” describing the act as symbolic and saying those involved viewed it as a way of keeping part of Tupac with them.
The music executive also said he did not participate because he was on probation at the time. “I told his mother, ‘Moms, I’d love to, but if I hit that, I’ll get in trouble,’” Knight recalled, adding that he believed he was the only person in the group who declined.
Knight’s account remains an allegation based on his recollection, and the identities of the friends and family members he said participated were not publicly detailed in the interview. His version adds another layer to the mythology surrounding Tupac’s final days, but the specific smoking ritual has not been independently confirmed by the people Knight said were present.
Tupac was shot on September 7, 1996, while riding in a BMW driven by Knight near the Las Vegas Strip after attending a Mike Tyson fight at the MGM Grand. The rapper died six days later on September 13 at age 25, while Knight survived after suffering a head wound in the attack.
Afeni, who spent decades protecting and managing her son’s legacy, died in 2016. Tupac’s death continues to draw renewed scrutiny nearly three decades later, including through the criminal case against Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who has pleaded not guilty to a murder charge connected to the 1996 shooting.
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